running script via root permission again!!

hey gurus, i finally couldn't find a suitable way for running my php scripts to read and show /var/log/messages in the browser. does anyone know how to do that? - i changed the file mode to 4755 and chown root.root (X) didnt work - tried to change the httpd process owner from nobody to root, it can't be changed unless it recompiled and unsecure (X) - i dont want to chmod 777 /var/log/messages can anyone help please?!! you think using sudo is a good solution? if yes, could anyone please describe if i have to run httpd using sudo or give tail access of /var/log/messages to nobody? --------------------- 2nd question, i'm writing admin tools for a company to add users and change user passwords, etc.. i decided not to write in php3 and write in perl. how can I run perl scripts with root privileges? does chmod work? i tried 4755 but it can't still print tail /var/log/messages which is owned by root. This is urgent, please help ASAP!! Ahmad Anvari Website Admin. Morva Network